The Daughter of Death
by freakofnature14
Summary: What would have happened if Percy went to defeat Talos instead of Bianca? If Bianca lived and went on to become the child of the prophecy? This story begins at that one moment that could have changed everything. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I clenched my fist around the tiny figurine as we trekked through the magic junkyard and prayed nothing would happen.

Yeah, Zoe warned us not to touch anything, but I doubted the gods would care about one little action figure. Some minor god probably just went through a Myth-o-Magic phase and threw their stuff out when they got tired of it.

I took a peek at it, making sure no one else was looking. The stone cold face of Hades, God of Death, 5,000 attack power- or something, stared unforgivingly back at me. I tucked it into my pocket as we finally approached the edge of the junkyard. It was the only figurine Nico didn't have yet, as he'd reminded me many times. I couldn't afford to lose it. I had to make sure he knew that I hadn't left him, I was still his sister.

We made it out of the junkyard, stepping into the warm glow of the streetlights lining the road running by it. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"We made it out." Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

Apparently she spoke to soon, because just then a massive sound like ten thousand trash compactors rang out.

I turned to see a giant hulking figure rise out of the trash mountain. It's joints creaking as it stood to face us. A pit formed in my stomach. It was a metal giant, easily a hundred feet tall, caked with rust and melted in places, but that didn't make it look any less menacing.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

"Wh-Who's Talos?" Percy stammered.

"One of Hephaestus's creations." Thalia answered. "But that can't be the original. Too small. A prototype maybe. A defective model."

"Too small?" I squeaked.

Just then the giant defective robot drew its sword and lunged for us. We jumped backwards as the sword slammed into the highway, smashing the pavement.

"Somebody took something!" Zoe yelled. "Who took something?" She glared accusingly at Percy. I stepped backwards, covering the pocket with the figurine protectively with my hand.

"I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a thief." Percy retorted.

I tried to muster up the courage to say something, but at that moment the metal giant took a 1,000 foot step towards us and we had to scatter to avoid being squished.

The giant swung its sword, smashing into a row of power lines and sending them crashing and sparking around us. I ducked behind a broken chariot and Percy followed me moments later.

"You took something. That bow." He said.

"No!" I said. My voice shaking. This was all my fault. We could all die tonight and it'd be all my fault.

"Give it back! Throw it down!"

I clenched my hand around the toy. "I didn't take the bow! Besides. It's too late now."

"What did you take?"

I didn't have to answer, because just then a giant shadow blotted out the moon and stars and we both had to make a mad dash away from the chariot before it got crushed under the giant's foot.

The giant bore down on us, I heard Grover yell "Hey Talos!" behind us, trying to distract it, but it still seemed set on stomping us flat. Grover started playing a tune on his reed pipes. I wasn't sure how music was supposed to help at a time like this, but just then the fallen power lines snaked towards the giant and wrapped around his ankles, sending arcs of electricity up its body.

Talos stiffened, for a second unable to move, but then he turned on Grover and swung his sword into the trash pile he was on, sending him scrambling for safety.

Percy grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away.

"Come on!" But I stood frozen. Guilt-racked and shaking, I pulled out the Hades figurine from my pocket.

Percy stared at me incredulously. "How can you think of Myth-o-Magic at a time like this?"

"It's for Nico. It's the only one he doesn't have." I said lamely.

"Throw it down."

I reluctantly let it drop to the ground, but the giant continued his attack. Thalia screamed "DUCK!" and Percy and I dropped to the ground as she sent an arc of electricity over our heads and into Talos's knee. It buckled underneath him, but he immediately started to get back up.

Percy scrambled up too. He was staring at Talos's foot. "Crazy idea time."

I stared at him. "Anything."

He told me about the maintenance hatch he'd spotted in the sole of the giant's foot. "I can get inside, but I'll have to time it right. Cover for me."

"No." I steeled myself. I couldn't let him do this. Not when it was my fault. "I'll go."

"You can't! You're new at this. You'll die."

Ignoring him, I scooped up the figurine and pressed it into Percy's hands.

"It's my fault the monster came after us. It's my responsibility. Here. If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… Tell him I'm sorry."

"Bianca, no!"

I didn't listen. I charged for the giant's foot as it rose into the air. I could see the maintenance hatch. If I could just get it open before the foot came down-

Then someone yanked me backwards and I fell on top of them into a trash heap as Talos's foot came down in front of us.

"What art thou doing?!"

It was Zoe. She pulled me to my feet and away from the giant.

"Let me go! There's a hatch- I can get inside and stop it!"

She turned to me incredulously and gripped my shoulders. "Thou cannot! Tis a suicide mission!"

I shook her off. "Just let me do this Zoe!"

Just then something clattered to the ground beside us. I glanced at it and saw that it was the figurine. _No._ I whirled around to see Percy standing under the giant's raised foot with his arm still raised from the throw. He nodded at me before turning and pushing the maintenance hatch open as the foot came down on top of him.

I just stood and stared, too shocked to do anything. Zoe gently took my arm. "We need to get further away."

"Wait ." I scooped up the figurine and ran. Talos raised his sword, staring right at us, and I could tell we weren't going to make it.

He swung the sword down at us. I desperately pulled Zoe to the side. Just before impact though, Talos completely seized up. He pulled his sword back so fast it slammed into his face, leaving a massive gash in the metal. "It's Percy! He made it!" I yelled in delight.

"He's _inside?_ " Grover bleated.

Talos started flailing and jerking around, hitting himself and staggering aimlessly. We need to back up! Thalia yelled.

We all ran for the highway as the giant stumbled backwards and crashed into pile of rusted chariots. He pushed himself up and staggered forward before falling across the highway, right on top of the powerlines. Electricity arced over the giants body.

"NO!" I screamed.

Talos lay motionless for a moment before pushing himself up. The charred, smoking metal of his hands crumbled upon contact with the asphalt. Some autopilot mechanism took over and the giant ran back into the junkyard, pieces of its body falling away as he went until he collapsed completely.

 _No. Please no._

I raced towards the wreckage, calling Percy's name as I searched the random pieces of the robot's body. The others followed close behind.

An uncomfortable buzzing sensation filled my head. I kept seeing flashes of another scene- ghosts lining up to cross a river. One of them was a teenaged boy with dark hair…

I pushed the images out of my head. He can't be dead. He can't die for my mistake!

We searched long into the morning, crawling through the wreckage and calling Percy's name. Finally, Grover sat down in the dirt and started bawling uncontrollably. Thalia sat by him and handed him a tin can from her bag, which he munched on miserably.

"We need to keep searching." I said, frantically shifting through wreckage a third time. "We'll find him."

"No, we won't Bianca. We need to leave." Thalia said.

"How can you say that?"

"She's right." Grover sniffed. "We won't find him. It's in the prophecy remember? One shall be lost in the land without rain."

"Oh my god." I sat down in the wreckage. "Oh my god. Oh my god."

They were right. We were in the desert- the land without rain. And Percy Jackson was dead.

I pulled out the figurine that had cost Percy his life. "I- I took this. Everything's my fault. I-I'm so sorry."

Thalia stared at me. "You _WHAT?_ "

"It-it was for Nico." I said helplessly.

Thalia's face softened, but Zoe's was steely and cold. "Thou must do better than this! I told thee no! Leaders must not endanger their comrades. Especially not for cheap trinkets!"

"Hey!" Thalia stood up and stepped between me and Zoe. "Cut her some slack! She's just a kid, and last time I checked, you're the leader here, not her. So get off her back alright?"

"I'm not on her- oh never mind. We all need to leave. The skeleton warriors are still after us." She gathered up our stuff and waited expectantly. I shakily got to my feet and took my bag from her. She stared at me silently for a solid minute before pulling me into a hug. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her.

"I'm glad you're alright." She whispered.

I pulled away first. I didn't feel like I deserved any kindness right now.

"Are you ready to go?" Zoe asked Thalia and Grover.

Thalia had wrapped a blanket around Grover's shoulders. He was still crying, but he nodded. "-sniff- Yeah, we're ready."

Then we made the miserable trek back to the highway, leaving Percy behind.

We found a tow truck by the highway with a full tank of gas and the key still in the ignition. We all piled in, Zoe taking the drivers seat. She seemed less shaken up than the rest of us. I took the back seat and curled myself into the corner, looking at the desert landscape race by outside the window. I cupped my hands around Nico's Hades figurine. It carried so much weight now. The events of the night before replayed over and over in my head, and I started to cry silently. I pulled my hood up so no one could see.

A few hours later, Thalia called for a pit stop. "We seriously need food, pull into that little gas station." Zoe did as she was asked, and Thalia jumped out. "I'll get food for us. Tin cans too. Bianca, will you come with?"

"Uh, sure." I said. I climbed out of the car and followed her inside.

We loaded up on all the best cheap gas station food, but it wasn't until we were behind the store, scrounging for recyclables for Grover, that she spoke to me.

"Are you okay? I mean, are you going to be okay?"

I didn't know what to say. I gathered a few empty soda cans and stuck them into my bag. I _wasn't_ okay.

"It should've been me."

Thalia faced me. "Hey, no. Percy chose to go in there. He knew the chances weren't good."

"But it's my fault Talos came after us."

Thalia rubbed her eyes. "Okay, yes. You did something stupid. Join the club. But what's done is done."

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat.

"Why aren't you mad at me?"

Thalia was silent a long time.

"There are better people to be mad at. Besides, I would have done the same thing as you honestly."

"You have any siblings?"

"… No. But Annabeth is like one."

"The girl who got captured"

"Yeah. She's the whole reason I'm on this quest."

"Percy too. He told me." I paused. "Now he's never going to get to see her."

"Hey. We need you Bianca. Nico needs you. Percy chose to go instead of you. No way he's going to regret it."

"How can you know that?"

"I may have done the self-sacrificing thing before, long story."

We got back on the road, driving westward until we ran out of gas, which also happened to be at a dead end. We got out of the truck and looked at the river-canyon below us.

"Wow." Thalia breathed. "What are we going to do now?"

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The canyon was maybe 80 feet deep and the river was about 50 yards across. And it was standing between us and our destination.

Grover inspected the side of the cliff. "There's a trail. We can get down."

It was the first time I'd heard him speak since this morning, and he didn't sound too good.

"I see no trail." Zoe responded.

"Right there!" He gestured to a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face.

"Um, I don't think we can make that." I said.

"Yeah we can! I think."

"Uh, how about we keep walking?" Thalia asked, her voice high and squeaky.

I didn't like being up so high either. And the water churning menacingly below us…

"Yes. Let's." I said.

We walked in silence for a while, passing around bags of gas station potato chips. We spotted a canoe rental place further along, right at a spot that would be easy to get to the water from, but decided against checking it out since we had to go upstream. There was no way that was happening with these rapids.

We walked in the biting cold until our legs ached and our hands were numb, then a mile more. After that Zoe called for a break. We stopped in a clearing with a few logs on the ground for seating. It looked like we weren't the first people to use that spot because there was an old fire pit in the center and snack wrappers lying around.

"Bianca, please gather some firewood." Zoe requested, looking pointedly at Grover, who was shaking like a leaf.

I nodded. "Okay." And trekked out into the woods.

As I shifted through the underbrush, gathering any wood that wasn't too soggy, I wondered how Nico was doing back at camp. I stuck my hand into my pocket, where the Hades figurine was. How was I going to tell him about Percy?

I decided I had enough wood to start a fire and keep it going a little while, so I gathered what I had and headed back to the group.

As I neared the campsite, I heard someone crying. I cleared the final line of trees and saw Grover sobbing, huddled at the base of a tree, and Thalia sitting in front of him, trying to comfort him.

"First Annabeth and now Percy…" He whimpered.

Guilt washed over me like a tidal wave. I dropped my firewood by the pit.

"I'm uh… I'm going to get some more." I stammered. I ran back into the woods, crashing through the underbrush until I was a fair distance away.

I stopped, breathing heavily. _I was so stupid! And now everybody has to suffer for it._

I kicked a tree, which earned me several pinecones on the head.

"Ouch!" I yelped.

The trunk of the tree morphed into a dryads face and she sneered at me before her features melted back into the bark.

"Okay, I deserved that." I muttered. I still wasn't used to this Greek mythology stuff being real. And it kind of creeped me out that trees and lakes and things could be sentient.

I decided I might as well find some more wood since that's what I'd promised, but I hadn't gotten more than a few sticks before I heard a painfully familiar clatter behind me.

I turned and saw two skeletons coming for me, and a third following close behind. Their graying flesh flickering like a mirage over their bones and their muskets loaded and ready to fire.

I felt for my bow- only to realize I'd left it with the others. I cursed. All I had was my knife, and that wasn't going to do much against these enemies.

The undead assassins raised their weapons and I dove behind a log to avoid getting shot as they fired the first round.

From behind the log I grabbed a thick branch, good for clubbing skeletons over the head, and cautiously looked over the side of it. The zombies were busy reloading. That's the good thing about those old-fashioned guns, they weren't very efficient.

I vaulted over the log and swung my makeshift club into the first skeleton's ribcage, shattering bones and sending him to the ground in a crumpled heap, where he instantly started reforming. I grabbed his gun, but it dissolved into dust upon contact with my skin.

The second zombie came for me and I jabbed my club upward into its jaw, knocking its skull off. I wasn't so lucky with the third one.

Skeleton number three swung its musket into my shoulder, sending me sprawling. Skeleton number one- now fully re-formed- pinned me down while number three aimed its gun at me. I panicked.

"Get away!" I screamed.

I don't know how I did what I did next.

I felt a pull in my gut and a wave of dark energy rolled off of me. The zombies disintegrated, along with all plant life within a few feet of me. I groaned and stood up shakily. How did I do that?

Just then, Thalia, Zoe, and Grover came running in.

"Bianca! We heard gunfire! Are you okay?... Woah."

Thalia stopped in her tracks. "What happened here?"

"I don't know. The skeletons came and I just…" I gestured helplessly.

Zoe took a handful of ashes and let them drift through her fingers.

"You know what this looks like right?" Thalia asked Zoe.

Zoe shook her head. "It is too soon to be sure."

"Sure about what?" I asked, fear rising in my chest.

"I don't know, Thalia," Grover said, "I mean- I can tell she's powerful, but she could be a daughter of Nyx, or Hecate, we don't know if her godly parent is male or female, so there's still a chance…"

"A chance of what?! What are you talking about?"

Thalia looked at me. "We don't know for sure, but it looks like you might be a daughter of Hades."

"And that's bad?"

"Well, the big three gods, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, aren't supposed to have any kids. They tend to slip up though, I'm a daughter of Zeus, and Percy was a son of Poseidon. If you really are a child of Hades, things might get ugly."

"But what about Nico? Is he-"

Thalia held up her hand. "Like I said, we don't know yet. The important thing is that you got rid of the skeletons. How many did you say there were again?"

"I didn't. And there were three."

"Okay, that means there's still two more and they're probably close by. I say we head out."

"Yes." Zoe stood up. "I climbed a tree and saw a dam further ahead. We should use it to cross the river."

With that, the rest of our group headed back to our camp to grab our stuff. I still had so many questions that needed to be answered, but I followed them.

We set out along the side of the canyon in the direction Zoe had pointed us. The others seemed to be ignoring me. I wondered if I'd done something wrong, besides, you know, siccing a murderous automaton on us the day before.

I caught up to Thalia. "You said you couldn't be sure about my godly parent yet, how can I know for sure?" I asked.

"Oh, you need to get claimed by them."

"And how and when will that happen?"

"Well, first a big glowy sign will appear over your head with a symbol of your parent, like a hammer or a mouse or something…"

"A mouse? What god would have a mouse as their symbol?"

Thalia smiled. "Apollo, actually. I don't really get it either. Anyway, as for when, we don't know. Some kids never get claimed."

"Why not?"

"Because the gods are shit parents." Thalia muttered.

I didn't know what to say to that. I let myself fall to the back of the group again.

It was nightfall by the time we reached the dam- Hoover dam- there was a sign- and it was huge, at least 700 feet tall. It was also closed.

"How will we get in?" Zoe whispered.

"Hold on." Grover replied. He played a quick tune on his pipes, turned to the woods, and waited. Soon trees and vines stretched towards us, twining together and forming a bridge over the gate.

"Everybody on!"

We all piled onto the tree bridge, Thalia last and me right before her, and slowly inched along it. The branches curved around us like a tunnel.

We were backing down the final stretch of branch when Thalia froze.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Fine." She squeaked. I was on the ground now.

"Do you need any help?"

"No, I just-" She jumped down the final few feet.

"You never speak of this." She hissed.

"Uhh, okay?" I didn't get what the big secret was, that she was scared of heights? Why would I say anything about that?

"Hey guys," Grover called, "the door's unlocked."

"This doesn't bode well." Zoe said.

"So we go in?"

"Yes, but stay alert."

We crept through the halls of the dam, being as quiet as possible. We made it about halfway through before something went wrong.

That must be a new record.

We heard snuffling in the dark and ducked into an adjacent hallway as the monster, whatever it was, prowled past us.

I t was the most bizarre creature I had ever seen. It had two heads- a goat and a lion on the front. The lion head was glowing from the mouth like it had hot coals in there. It wore a name plate that read: Fluffy, registered guard dog, in bold print. For a tail, the creature had the front half of a snake, spitting venom.

"It's the dam Chimera!" Zoe whispered.

Thalia snorted. "The what?"

The goat head looked right at us and bleated loudly.

"Hey! That was rude!" Grover retorted.

Then the lion head blew fire at us and we dove to get away. I pushed myself to my knees and grabbed my bow. Zoe and I sent some arrows into the monster's hide, but they didn't seem to be doing much except annoy it, and the lion's fire breath and snake's poison kept anyone from getting near it. Thalia had taken out her shield, the one with the head of Medusa imprinted in it, which made the monster shy away from her as she stepped in closer and jabbed her spear at it.

She almost got a good shot, but the snake tail swung around and knocked her backwards. The lion head blew fire across the room until it got painfully hot. I tried to think through the smoke. How could we beat this thing?

I remembered a Chimera card from Myth-o-Magic, (I _do_ know my Myth-o-Magic, Nico gets me to play it with him almost every day.) It was one of the nastier cards, but it did have one weakness: Lead-based weapon cards.

Lead. Fire.

I scrambled over to Thalia. "I have an idea! Can you hold it off for a minute?"

She nodded, and I raced for the gift shop.

I ran past aisles of plushies and children's books until I found what I wanted: Fishing supplies. And with them, lead sinkers. I loaded my pockets with the balls of lead and ran back to the action.

The Chimera was wiping the floor with my friends. Zoe was crumpled against a wall, with Thalia crouching between her and the monster, using her shield to protect them both. Grover was doing the stop, drop, and roll, trying to put his flaming pants out.

I needed to get the monster's attention.

"Hey! Fur Face!" I yelled.

The Chimera looked at me and I chucked one of the sinkers at the fiery lion's mouth. It missed. The lion's mouth glowed hotter and I knew it was getting ready to roast me. I threw another sinker and it hit home, sizzling and melting upon contact with it's mouth.

The Chimera gagged. It clawed at its throat. I backed up as it thrashed around before collapsing and disintegrating into yellow monster dust.

"Good work Bianca." Zoe said. Thalia helped her up. She was limping, but otherwise seemed okay. Grover ran to the gift shop to grab a new pair of pants, and we continued through the dam.

I breathed a sigh of relief when we made it outside. As soon as we got to the first patch of trees Zoe ordered that we make camp. I realized that I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept.

Zoe and I each set up a tent, one for us, and one for Thalia and Grover.

Then I crawled into my silver Artemis-approved sleeping bag, and was asleep seconds later.

 **A/N: And that was chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it, but even if you didn't I'd still love to hear your feedback! I hope you don't mind me reusing old monsters from earlier books, but hey, they never actually beat the Chimera before, and I thought that would be an awesome battle. (The lead thing is legit how the Chimera was beaten in the myth btw) So yeah, read, review, and have a great weekend!**

 **-FreakofNature**


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